Gripping tongs have taken many forms in relation to structure, shapes, functionality and types of construction materials used generally. Gripping tongs have jaws that are used for many different types of activities that include lifting of pipes, gripping of light bulb bases, crimping of cartridge shells, clamping of exhaust pipes, gripping of mason jar tops, and the like. At present gripping tongs with serrated jaws or ridged jaws are not capable of removing an inking plug from an ink container without destroying the integrity of the inking plug. The serrated or ridged jaws of present gripping tongs damage, mar and/or crush the inking plugs cylindrical walls which makes the re-use of the inking plug impossible, as the inking plug cannot be reattached into the neck opening of the ink container.
There remains a need for a specialized gripping tongs having special tapered jaws for prying-off and lifting-up of an inking plug from the neck section of an ink container. This specialized tapered jaw would be semi-circular in shape having an L-shaped chamfered edge for entering the space between the inking plug and the bottle-neck, and wedging them apart.